Nikon Z5 Mirrorless Camera Review

Patrick November 2, 2020

Nikon Z5 Mirrorless Camera Review:

Nikon has been making great cameras for decades, and with the creation of the Z Series, it looked to me as if Nikon was finally taking mirrorless seriously. So far, they have produce some great products in this series. Recently, they introduced something new that I was particularly excited about when I first heard of it: the Nikon Z5. Why would I be excited for something that Nikon technically calls its “entry level” full frame camera? Well, considering its specs combined with the price, which is $1,396.95 (there’s even a current rebate of $100), I felt there was real potential here. So, I tested it out, and here is what I thought of it.

Nikon Z5 Mirrorless Camera Build Quality:

Let’s first talk about the Z5’s overall build and ergonomics. For about $1,400, I wasn’t sure what to expect. After all, this is a full frame camera that actually comes in cheaper than some cameras with cropped sensors like the brand new Fuji X-T4, which currently retails at $1,699. There were a lot of questions in my mind: will the Z5 be excruciatingly slow? Will it suffer from poor image quality? Will the electronics be subpar? Well, I’m happy to report that in terms of build, this camera isn’t just made cheaply with plastic parts; on the contrary, the build is excellent. The Z5 feels very solid in the hands thanks in part to its magnesium alloy chassis. In fact, it feels slightly better built than even my Fuji X-T3, which is technically a pro Fuji body. To top it off, it is also dust and weather resistant, so you can take it with you even on those days that aren’t exactly ideal in terms of weather.

↑ Here’s the Nikon Z5 with the 50mm f1.8.

It’s also worth mentioning that ergonomically, the Nikon Z5 is great in my hands, and one of the most comfortable cameras I’ve held. Quite frankly, the grip feels like it was almost molded specifically for me. Buttons and scroll wheels feel logically placed. Things don’t feel cluttered all over the body. The one feature you are missing though when compared to Nikon’s more expensive Z Series cameras is the top panel LCD display. This panel gives you a quick view of the important settings but in all honestly, I don’t find it so important that my photography would suffer, if I didn’t have this panel. In other words, I don’t find it a huge deal that the Z5 doesn’t have one. The layout on the top plate is quite nice just the way that it is made. Things are kept simple, and straight to the point.

↑ Here’s the top plate of the Nikon Z5.

As for overall size, the Nikon Z5 is pretty compact as well. It’s full frame, so it isn’t as compact as say the Fuji X-T4 (I mention Fuji a lot because I shoot with a Fuji system). But with that said, it’s not much larger than an X-T4 either. I was walking around quite a bit with the Z5, and it was business as usual: it didn’t feel much larger than my Fuji system. The camera is a good size overall: it’s large enough where you don’t feel like everything is crowded on the camera yet it’s still compact enough where you can carry it around all day long without feeling fatigue or sticking out like a sore thumb. It’s small enough where it can still be discreet for those who prefer to take candid shots or do some street photography.

↑ This is the back of the Z5.

With all that said, the Nikon Z5 still comes with a lot of great features, and again, all for about $1,400. For one, it has a superb 3.69m-dot electronic viewfinder. You get a beautifully crisp, bright image with great contrast and color. I didn’t experience any lag either. For those coming from an optical viewfinder, I wouldn’t worry too much about adjusting to the EVF because the quality is so good that it doesn’t even feel like it’s electronic.

There’s also a tilting 3.2″ 1.04m-dot LCD touch display. It does not tilt all the way around, so you can’t do selfies but it’s still a great monitor. The pixel count isn’t as high as some of the higher end mirrorless cameras, such as, the new Nikon Z6II, which as 2.1m-dot of resolution. However, unless you put them side by side, I don’t think many would notice much of a difference, especially in real world use. The Z5’s LCD display still provides a clear, sharp, and colorful image that is also bright with great contrast.

↑ The Z5 has a tilt display that is touch screen.

There are other important features that are normally found on pro bodies that are also in the Nikon Z5. For one, the Z5 does have dual card slots. Both slots support up to the UHS-II protocol. You can use them together for overflow storage or automatic back up. You can also separate file types like RAW, and jpeg or stills and videos. There is also an in-body axis sensor-shift Vibration Reduction (VR) mechanism that compensates for up to five stops of stabilization. Furthermore, battery life is actually pretty great. Spec-wise, you get approximately 470 shots per charge but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a conservative number. Let’s just say that I wasn’t too worried about charging the battery every time I went out. Additionally, you can also get the MB-N10 Multi-Battery Power Pack, if you want to extend your shooting times.

↑ Dual SD card slots.

There are two areas where I felt the Z5 was a bit weaker. One is its burst mode. The Nikon Z5 does a modest 4.5 fps. Here’s the thing though: I rarely shoot at max frames per second even during my model shoots, so 4.5 fps is plenty quick for me. I imagine for a lot of people, it’s plenty quick. It still can capture action shots. All shooting any faster means for me, at least, is having to go through more, and more files to find the perfect one, which is a waste of my time. That’s why I rarely shoot at max burst mode with my own camera.

The other area where the Z5 is weaker is when using its movie mode. The Z5 does 4K but uses a 1.7x crop. Full HD uses the entire frame though. Fortunately for me, I don’t do much video anyway. So for me, this would not be a deal breaker.

Nikon Z5 Mirrorless Camera Autofocus:

As for the autofocus, the Nikon Z5 uses a hybrid focusing system that has both phase, and contrast detection with 273 selectable points, so your entire frame is pretty much covered. There’s also Eye-Detection Autofocus, which works on the eyes of humans, cats, and dogs. It can even follow them as they move behind objects in the frame.

Overall, I found the Z5 has an excellent autofocus system. I shot a variety of subjects from street, models, candids, and pets; I found the AF to be plenty fast with the focusing being nearly instantaneous and accurate most of the time. I’ve been using the Z5 with the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S Lens, and the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S Lens, and both lenses have performed superbly on it. I’ve even brought along the Z5 with me on a few of my shoots to test the face detection. It worked great. It locked on tenaciously to the subject, and kept up with the changing poses after each click of the shutter.

I found the autofocus was comparable to my Fuji X-T3, and all the Fuji bodies I’ve reviewed so far, which includes new ones like the X-T4. The autofocus isn’t something you have to wait for or something that is always searching. It’s immediate, and very sure of itself for the most part. There were instances where it miss focused in dimly lit areas but nothing that was really out of the ordinary. Overall, I found it to be quite capable.

Nikon Z5 Mirrorless Camera Image Quality:

In terms of image quality, I think the Nikon Z5 produces fantastic images. For less than $1,400, you’re getting a full frame 24.3 MP CMOS sensor with the EXPEED 6 Image Processing Engine. It sounds similar to the 24.5 MP sensor in the Z6 but it’s different. The sensor in the Z6 has technically better low light performance with it being a BSI CMOS (backside illuminated). With that said, I don’t feel it’s a huge difference in the real world, and with the one in the Z5, you’re still going to get superb image quality.

↑ This was taken with the 24-70mm f4 set at the 32mm focal length and f8. I used 100 ISO.

↑ This was taken with the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f4 S set at the 30mm focal length and f8. I used 250 ISO.

↑ This is another shot taken with the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f4 S set at the 35mm focal length using f4 and 100 ISO.

The truth is, I’m downright impressed with what the Nikon Z5 produces. In fact, I feel the image quality is one of the major strengths of the Z5. Color and contrast are great. With the dynamic range being so good, there’s a lot of flexibility when editing the RAW files. Yes, this is an “entry level” full frame camera, and yes, you can use it for casual photography or if you’re new to photography, this is a great camera to learn on considering it’s easy to switch from full auto to manual. But don’t let that “entry level” title full you because it is quite capable of producing professional results.

This was taken with the 50mm f1.8 set at f5.6. I used 100 ISO. Credit for this mural goes to: Ben Angotti (@angotti81), model @emonibaraka, and help from @nysmclothing.

↑ This was taken with the 24-70mm f4 set at the 35mm focal length using f8 and 160 ISO.

↑ Here’s one taken early morning with the 24-70mm f4 set at the 24mm focal length. The settings were f8 and 160 ISO.

Most of these files in this review were processed from RAW files but it’s worth noting that the Nikon Z5 produces fantastic out of camera jpegs as well. I was, quite frankly, surprised at the quality of them. I did review the Nikon Z50 a while back, and remember loving those out of camera jpegs as well. Getting back to the Z5, I actually prefer the ones from this camera over my Fuji out of camera jpegs, and as some of you know, Fujifilm is one of those manufacturers known for having cameras that produce superb out of camera jpegs. Obviously, we all have different tastes. I’m sure there are others that prefer the Fuji ones. All I’m saying is the out of camera jpegs from the Z5 are up there with the best (the four photos below this paragraph are out of camera jpegs). So, if you don’t want to bother with editing any RAW files, you can definitely rely on just the jpegs from the camera.

↑ Here’s an OOC jpeg taken early morning with the 24-70mm f4 set at the widest focal length using f8 and 100 ISO.

↑ Here’s an OOC jpeg taken in the afternoon with the 24-70mm f4 set at the 29mm focal length and f8 using 100 ISO.

↑ Here’s an OOC jpeg taken with the Nikkor Z 50mm f1.8 S set at f8 using 100 ISO.

↑ Here’s OOC jpeg taken with the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f4 S set at the 24mm focal length and f8 using 1600 ISO.

To top it off, the Z5 has a wide sensitivity range from 100 to 51200 ISO (extended 50 to 102400 ISO), and I’m happy to report that for the most part, the quality of the high ISO pics is great. You’ll start seeing a bit of noise creeping in around 1600 ISO but there’s nothing out of the ordinary.

↑ Here’s a shot taken with the Nikkor Z 50mm f1.8 S lens set at f5 using 1100 ISO.

↑ Here’s a shot taken with the 24-70mm f4 set at the 42mm focal length. The settings were f8 and 1600 ISO.